Report: Romeo Crennel interviewing with Texans on Wednesday

Shortly after Bill O’Brien became the head coach of the Texans, reports surfaced that he planned to appoint Romeo Crennel as his defensive coordinator.

The Texans cleared space for Crennel by dismissing Wade Phillips while parting ways with all but one assistant from Gary Kubiak’s staff and an official announcement about Crennel’s arrival could be coming in the near future. John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports that Crennel is interviewing with O’Brien and the Texans on Wednesday and that he remains the leading candidate for the job.

Crennel did not work in the NFL in 2013, taking the year off after getting fired as the Chiefs’ head coach after the 2012 season. Crennel took over as the interim coach in Kansas City in 2011, starting his second stint as an NFL head coach after four years in the job with the Browns. Crennel was also defensive coordinator in New England from 2001-2004 and worked with Patriots coach Bill Belichick with the Giants and Jets when both were assistants under Bill Parcells. O’Brien later worked with Belichick in New England.

O’Brien held onto defensive line coach Bill Kollar from Kubiak’s staff and he’s expected to bring several of his assistants from Penn State on board as well.

Plus if I’m correct he runs a 4-3 and I’m not sure how well our personnel will fit into a 4-3.
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The great Pats defenses of the early 2000s were very aggressive actually. And the Pats prefer 3-4 as long as they have the personnel to play it and the majority of his time with the Pats that’s what they ran.

8to80texansblog says:
Jan 8, 2014 11:23 AM
I’m not a huge fan of this…. I feel like he is very passive on defense. Like the bend don’t break methodology but I think in this pass happy league, that’s a good recipe to get torched…

Plus if I’m correct he runs a 4-3 and I’m not sure how well our personnel will fit into a 4-3.
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He actually has run both, but in Kansas City it was a 3-4, and a proper 3-4 and not a hybrid 5-2 like Wade ran.

8to80texansblog says:
Jan 8, 2014 11:23 AM
I’m not a huge fan of this…. I feel like he is very passive on defense. Like the bend don’t break methodology but I think in this pass happy league, that’s a good recipe to get torched…

Plus if I’m correct he runs a 4-3 and I’m not sure how well our personnel will fit into a 4-3.

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When Crennel was a defensive coordinator with the Patriots, he ran a modified 3-4 base defense he learned from Parcells and Belichick. His defenses were always very aggressive when he was a DC. Just look at the Patriots D during their title years.

As a head coach, he hired DCs who either primarily ran the 4-3 or were passive defensive playcallers. Not a good HC, but Crennel is definitely a great DC.

bassplucker says:Jan 8, 2014 11:54 AM

Good DC, horrific HC.

That 2-14 Chiefs team last year was the worst waste of talent I have ever seen.

Just what is it in the NFL that allows a guy who repeatedly loses as a head coach see his name bandied about as a candidate for yet another top job? Good Lord. Does he have to coach each and every team before someone has the gumption to say hey, the guy is no head coach?